The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-04-21
DEAD MANS CANON,
1t was a warm day in April.

SHaliCs LoiiCu tOOh car auu TOuC Out
to the end Of the line, then he walked
on for some distance and turned UP the
hill to the left and took the road which
leads down through Dead Mans Canon.
As he walked down the rough road
he noticed little child playing around
pile of wood which her father had
been chopping.
Farther down he saw two girls at n
spring, and as the younger drank from a
tin pail size said to her sister, "What
splendid water that is
Two men who were drawing stone left
their horses AMI went to the girls for a
drink.
Some negroes were laughing and
talking around a rough house on the
side of the bluff.
All these things Loftcn noticed as he
walked, and he also noticed two men,
evidently tramps, who sat on stone in
n lonely part of the canon talking in low
tones, which ceased entirely as he came
nearer.
Loften went on through the canon and
crossed the tracks 10 the brewery, where
he was going to look at some new ma
chinery.
After he had examined the machine
he went up OIL the roof of the building,
from which there was IN excellent view
of the valley.
He watched the river winding away
past cultivated lands and patches of for
est, past sandy flats and rocky bluffs.
He noticed the tall sycamorcs, with their
white bark, scattered over the valley.
In the distance he could sec the piled up
stone and the tall masts of the derricks
for moving it where great ridge wa,
being built, and near by the cluster of
houses covered with tar paper, where
, the workmen lived. Ga the other side
was the city with It's towers and Chin
neys, and over all the dark cloud of
smoke curling upward. And then there
was the river again, and moro flats and
n,ore bluffs and more cultivated land,
forest and white barked sycamores.
Loften went down and started for
home. As he went up the canon the
men still sat on the stone whispering to-
gether, and again stopped when he came
near.
twas growing dark. The men who
had been drawing stone had left their
wagon by the road and gone for the
night. He met one old negro carrying a
pail of water. There was no one talk,
ing before the house now. The spring
was deserted, and the water ran quietly
down the hill. The little girl and the
man who had been chopping wood were
gone too.
Near the head of the canon Loften
met well dressed man going down.
They nodded as they passed anu said
something about the bad walking.
Loftcn noticed that black clouds were
gathering, and when he reached the top
OF the bluff it was quite dark. He took
a car and went home, and as he went into
his house he heard the roar of distant
thunder.
As the flashes of lightning for second
i lumined the lower end of Dead Mans
Canon well dressed man lay in the road
near the rock where the two tramps had
sat whispering together-but the tramps
were gone.
1t was still moonlight when the quar-
rymcn started for their work.
The storm had gone by and the sky
was bright with stars.
As they entered the canon the paling
of the moon indicated that the sun would
soon be up and the sky was already
growing red in the east. A light mist
floatcd among the tops of the sycamore
tIeeS on tne hats.
Suddenly the men stopped.
Right before them on tho road lay
man. His clothes were soaked by the
rain, which had fallen in terrents, and
his white collar and cuffs wcre soi!ed
with mud. His head was covered with
mud and blood, and an ugly cash in his
throat showed how he had died.
One of them at once started for the
ttwi to notify the authorities.
The coroner came and took charge of
the body, and men were set at work to
try and discover the murderer.
Inquiry at the brewery brought out
the fact that strange man had been